"Ramsay eager to showcase talents in International Bowl"

The article below is copied from insidehalton.com and written Steve Leblanc. The photography was listed from Ramsey's Twitter page.

...More than a little eager to return to the Dallas Cowboy’s hollowed grounds of AT&T Stadium next Friday (Feb. 5), Thomas Ramsay is set to help Ontario’s U18 squad battle the U.S. in the International Bowl. 

For one looking to raise his profile and get on college coaches’ radar, opportunities don’t get much bigger than this. 

“I’m really excited for the chance to showcase my talents and get some more film for recruiters,” said the 17-year-old defensive tackle, who stamped his ticket to the Lone Star State with a successful qualifying bid for the provincial team last month in Hamilton. 

This marks his second time at the International Bowl, having been part of the Ontario U17 team last year — suffering the lone defeat in a 3-1 showing for the provincial program. “I’m ready to represent Milton and Ontario (again).” 

As comfortable as he looks delivering a big hit or muscling his way through high-traffic situations, football wasn’t always Ramsay’s sport of choice. 

A solid contributor on the rep basketball scene for several years, the now 6-foot-1, 265-pounder made the switch from the court to gridiron shortly after joining the Milton District Mustangs junior football team in Grade 9. 

The reason was quite simple. 

“I like the aggression… the hitting. It was instant love,” recalled Ramsay, who’s spent time on both the offensive and defensive line. “At first I just used my natural strength, and once I got the (tackle) technique down I was flying.” 

 

The International Bowl isn’t the only opportunity the local lineman has had to take his football prowess south of the border. 

Landing a spot at Welland-based Canada Prep Academy this past fall, Ramsay was part of the country’s only all-US schedule — testing himself against many of America’s high-ranked schools. 

The move from MD — where he’d helped the Mustangs to the Halton Tier 3 title the previous season — also saw him come under the tutelage of former NFL/CFL lineman Kevin Huntley. 

“I thought I had my pass rushing moves down, but he (coach Huntley) has taught me so many things,” noted Ramsay, who was also part of the Burlington Stampeders provincial championship drive last summer. “I’ve been very fortunate to have him as my coach and to play a lot of big schools. There’s been great competition.” 

While set to play for another d-line coach he’s already worked with — Carleton University’s Darrell Adams — Ramsay and his Team Ontario mates haven’t practiced together yet and will have just a few days in Texas to gel before taking on their U.S. counterparts. 

That’s where one of the harder to measure but no less valuable upgrades to his game over the past year should serve him well. 

“I’d say team work may be my biggest improvement recently. I think I’ve gotten better at working with different surroundings and am getting along better with different players,” said Ramsay, who’s played with just two members of Team Ontario before, both of them on offence. “I want to fly around out there, make some plays and hopefully we can pull out the win.”

"UBC’s Katsantonis a game-changer for defence, earns his new nickname: The Bakersfield Bandit"

The article below is by Howard Tsumara and was included among the university sports blogs attached to The Province's website. It dates back to November and while not specific to tomorrow's International Bowl, I post it because Katsantonis was recently added to the U19 roster.

VANCOUVER — Stavros Katsantonis knows his name can be a mouthful, especially on first glance. 

So when the topic of nicknames is broached with the freshman defensive halfback with the UBC Thunderbirds, the personable Katsantonis is more than happy to oblige. 

“My teammates, they just call me Stahvee,” he begins. “But back home in Bakersfield (Cal.), I got called Greece Lightning.” 

An obvious homage to both his family heritage and to his dynamic physical qualities on the gridiron, the nickname has been apropos... 

As a first-year player with no previous three-down football experience on his resume put plenty of it in his DNA, Katsantonis has gone from keeping pace with a steep learning curve over the first half of the Canada West campaign, to scaling it with ever-growing confidence during the second half. 

 

“Here’s an 18-year-old kid who is playing way above where he should be playing for his age,” gushed UBC’s first-year head coach Blake Nill following the team’s Hardy Cup conference championship win over No. 1-ranked Calgary last weekend. “He may have been the best defensive back on both teams for the third straight week.” 

...

Against Calgary, Katsantonis not only made a season-high six tackles, he had two big pass break-ups, including one with the game on the line in the fourth quarter where he batted the ball out of the hands of Dinos’ receiver Denzell Radford just inside the goal line. 

Katsantonis, a depth player for the first half of the season, has come on so strong of late that he heads into the Uteck Bowl with 25 tackles and a team-high five interceptions. 

So the big question is, how did a kid from Bakersfield, who played in a district so small that his high school all-star showcase was actually an arena-bowl game, wind up in Vancouver with the Thunderbirds? 

“My dad grew up in Edmonton and he played for the Wildcats junior football team there,” begins Katsantonis. “He got recruited out to Bakersfield Junior College and that’s how my parents met. From there he got recruited back to the University of Calgary and he won the 1988 Vanier Cup with them.” 

Jim Katsantonis, like his son a defensive halfback, made a fumble recovery in that 1988 Vanier Cup game, and as an alum, knew full well the kind of impact Nill had as the Dinos’ head coach over a span of nine seasons. 

“When the dad found out that I had left Calgary and was headed to UBC, he asked me if I was interested in taking a look at his son,” Nill adds. “Immediately, I thought this was the kind of kid that can make some plays.” 

At the highest levels of Canadian university football, however, it’s happened faster than anyone would have thought. 

In fact his breakthrough game, a 54-10 home-field shellacking of Alberta back on Oct. 17 is the game that turned UBC’s entire season around, transforming it from a scuffling 2-2 squad into an 8-2 force which has won six straight heading into play Saturday. 

Katsantonis finished that game with two interceptions, one which led directly to a UBC touchdown, and he recovered a fumble that he returned 61 yards for a touchdown en route to being named the CIS’ Defensive Player of the Week. 

“He’s taken over that boundary halfback position,” acknowledges UBC defensive coordinator James Colzie III. “He’s made more plays probably than anyone in the back end. The biggest thing is that he asks questions, maybe too many. But he brings energy, he’s a heck of a hitter he has done everything we’ve asked him to do. At the end of the day, you can’t ask for anything more than that.” 

Which brings us back to the topic of his nickname. 

Greece Lightning? It’s good. But not nearly as fitting as the one stuck on him by UBC’s young sports information intern Aaron Martin. 

“He’s the Bakersfield Bandit,” Martin chimed in the press box after the second of Katsantonis’ two interceptions against Alberta earlier this season. 

Sounds like a nickname worthy of a country song, and Katsantonis says he’s come to appreciate the genre, growing up in a town where classic stars of the genre like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard plied their trade. 

But what does Katsantonis think of his new handle? 

“Bakersfield Bandit,” he says, letting it roll off the tongue. “Yeah. Yeah. I like it.”

The picture included in the article above was lifted from the CentralValleyFootball website, which is dedicated to football in that area of California. They picked up on Katsantonis' success last month.

And I prefer Greece Lightning.

"UW freshman set for American gridiron duel"

WATERLOO (Christine Rivet, Waterloo Region Record) — As a converted hockey player, Jesse Gibbon brings all the athleticism and ferocity of a rampaging defenceman to the gridiron. 

The University of Waterloo's hulking offensive lineman dropped jaws and opposing running backs with equal aplomb in his freshman campaign for the Warriors. 

 

To go with his conference all-rookie selection this past season, Gibbon becomes the first Warrior chosen to play football in an international event since current Saskatchewan Roughrider Chris Best appeared at the East-West Shrine Game in 2007 in Houston. 

Gibbon is destined for Sunday's International Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., home of the Dallas Cowboys. 

He, along with 29 of Canada's top under-19 football players, will face the United States in the game with national pride on the line. 

"Jesse finishes. He plays to the whistle and sometimes beyond," said UW's head coach Chris Bertoia. "I think he developed that from his hockey days." 

The six-foot-five, 290-pound behemoth from Hamilton eventually abandoned his competitive hockey career in high school. 

... 

"Jesse's got a big ceiling. We think he's just scratching the surface. He's a guy with pro potential," said Bertoia.

2015 FCC, game 5: Nova Scotia 22, New Brunswick 20

This is one of the match-ups I look forward to most from year to year. Aside from the "regional rivalry", both are relatively young programs in terms of this competition and drawing from a smaller talent pool.

Last year's contest was not close, unfortunately, but this one could have been tied with only 27 seconds remaining. Nothing bad can come from this kind of competitiveness.

Here's the recap from Football Canada. The image is by Emily Tower and listed from this article about New Brunswick's participation in the tournament.

Nova Scotia opened the scoring with a booming punt which sailed into the end zone for a single point.

Nova Scotia struck again on a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Monecko Clayton to receiver Marko Xidos.

New Brunswick was unable to capitalize on a pair of interceptions from linebacker Bailey Feltmate and defensive back Samuel Alward respectively. Feltmate had an impressive game tallying a game high 9 total tackles, 8 of which were solo. 

Nova Scotia looked to have taken a 15-point lead into halftime following a 1-yard Adam Bennett touchdown plunge however New Brunswick had other ideas. On the last play of the opening half, a 99-yard Ian Carty touchdown return narrowed the NB deficit 15-7 heading into the half. 

New Brunswick further chipped away at the NS lead as quarterback David Patry found Joel Shaw in the end zone 22-yards out, bringing the score 15-13. The touchdown was set-up by a Justin Wyryha interception; NB’s third of the contest which gave them the ball at their opponent’s 21-yard line. 

Following the pick, quarterback Monecko Clayton responded by finding Marko Xidos again, this time on a 50-yard bomb to set-up first and goal at the 10. On the next play, Bennett’s 2nd rushing TD of the game gave Scotia some breathing room, 22-14 at the 2 minute mark of the final quarter. 

New Brunswick tried to reply, moving the ball to midfield until a big hit by Tyler Ball caused a NB fumble which was recovered by Glodin Mulali to stop NB’s drive dead in its tracks. 

Starting at their own 30-yard line, New Brunswick would get one final possession with 1:08 to play in the game. The drive culminated with a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Party to receiver Joel Shaw, making the score 22-20. The 2-point conversion attempt was batted down to end the comeback.

Nova Scotia Offensive Player of the Game
RB Adam Bennett: 20 carries for 74 yards and 2 scores.

Nova Scotia Defensive Player of the Game
DL Andersen Recker: 4 tackles, 3 assists, 3 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery.

New Brunswick Offensive Player of the Game
QB David Patry: 13 of 19 passing, 200 yards, 2 TDs, 2 runs for 7 yards.

New Brunswick Defensive Player of the Game
LB Bailey Feltmate: 8 tackles, 2 assists, one interception returned for six yards.

There are only so many honours to hand out so I want to mention a few other statistical standouts from this contest.

New Brunswick receiver Joel Shaw ended up with 5 receptions for 120 yards and the two scores mentioned above.

New Brunswick DB Justin Wyryha had three interceptions in total.

Nova Scotia LB Jacob Morgan is credited with 5 solo tackles, 2 assists, a half-sack and 2.5 tackles for loss.

2015 FCC game 4: Ontario 26, Quebec White 03

Jevante Stanley's career, if he chooses to continue to play football, will be an interesting one to follow.

Stanley's name has come up a number of times on this blog already as a result of quality play during the Football Canada Cup and the International Bowl. He was the championship game MVP in the 2014 FCC gold medal game and was named player of the game when Canada defeated their USA counterparts in the U18 game in the International Bowl last year.

See the article below from the Brampton Guardian's Frank Juzenas for further evidence. And check his 2015 highlights video at the bottom of the post.

ST.-JEAN, QUE. - With Player of the Game performances from Brampton’s Jevante Stanley and Tyrell Richards Ontario won its opening game of the 2015 Football Canada Cup in St. -Jean. 

Stanley, a 5-foot-8, 180-pounds running back was named Ontario’s offensive player of the game while Richards, a 6-foot-3 177-pounds defensive back earned selection as Ontario’s top defensive player. 

With Ontario leading 4-3 early in the second quarter, Stanley got things rolling with an 83-yard touchdown run, silencing the hometown crowd. He then added a second rushing touchdown from 33 yards out to put Ontario up 18-3. 

Team Ontario’s MVP last year in the under-18 final, Stanley finished with 262 yards rushing on 13 carries, with his two touchdowns. 

Ontario head coach Glen Mills commented on Stanley’s performance after the contest.
“Special player. He’s a pleasure to coach. He works extremely hard; he comes in every day and works. We definitely named him captain for that reason. He’s back again this year after he was dynamite last year. He’s a tremendous leader,” he stated. 

Quebec White coach Fabrice Raymond was also impressed. 

“We couldn’t counter their power play and Jevante with his cutbacks; he had a good game on us,” Raymond said.

Ontario Offensive Player of the Game
RB Jevante Stanley: 13 carries for 262 yards and 2 scores.

Ontario Defensive Player of the Game
DB Tyrell Richards: 2 tackles, 1 assist, 1 interception returned for 13 yards.

Quebec White Offensive Player of the Game
RB Joanik Masse: 7 carries for 95 yards, one TD.

Quebec White Defensive Player of the Game
DB Neal Côté: 7 tackles, 1 assist, 1 fumble recovery.